R134a in new ac system?

Started by taktics702 · May 8, 2013 · 9postsSMF 2010–26

taktics702May 8, 2013, 10:07 pm · #1

If i were to buy a whole new ac set (all parts s12 specific) would i be able to use r134a or is that ac system only for r12.

If its only for r12 what ac is compatible with ours? My main goal is to get the coldest, hardest blowing ac possible. I almost have enough for my rebuild but i want to make sure replace the ac system at the same time as prior to the engine blowing, the ac would barely blow any air at all, although the air that it did blow was pretty cool, but not cold enough for the las vegas heat.

Post Merge

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, mod please move to general tech or more appropriate section if necessary.

SchizophrenicMCMay 8, 2013, 10:21 pm · #2

R134A can be used in R12 systems, as long as you use an R134A-soluble compressor oil. They sell retrofit kits at Walmart and various auto parts stores.

The problem is, R134A only gets cold at higher pressure than R12. R12 systems are designed to run at fairly low pressure, so R134A never blows as cold in an R12 system. If you can get R12 for your system, that would be ideal, but strictly speaking, R134A will work, as long as you use the appropriate fittings and compressor oil. (again they sell kits that have all this figured out)

Source: Running R134A in my S13, which used to be freezing with R12, but is now only slightly cool.

I_heart_VVLMay 9, 2013, 11:48 pm · #3

If your AC system is in check it'll still blow just as cold.

Source: My S12.

SchizophrenicMCMay 10, 2013, 12:30 am · #4

The S13 blew cold when it had R12 in it, but somebody had to go and fuck that up for me

I_heart_VVLMay 10, 2013, 1:08 am · #5

Whatever happened to being able to get R12 from your friend or whatever?

Cajun1guyMay 10, 2013, 7:00 am · #6

Oh, that was caused by a previous disaster in the making, depletion of the ozone layer (remember that?) Probably from before most of you guys were born. DuPont was running out on the patent for exclusive R-12 manufacture, so something had to happen. Think of that when you hear about the "global warming" crap. Now it has to be called climate change, because the Earth is not cooperating with the farce.

SchizophrenicMCMay 10, 2013, 12:22 pm · #7

I_heart_VVL on 01:08:17 AM / 10-May-13Whatever happened to being able to get R12 from your friend or whatever?

It was like $90 a pound, and the car needed at least 2 and a half, plus he couldn't find a charging apparatus or a method to get the compressor oil into the system, since they no longer sell R12 premixed for car A/C.

Cajun1guy on 07:00:01 AM / 10-May-13Oh, that was caused by a previous disaster in the making, depletion of the ozone layer (remember that?) Probably from before most of you guys were born. DuPont was running out on the patent for exclusive R-12 manufacture, so something had to happen. Think of that when you hear about the "global warming" crap. Now it has to be called climate change, because the Earth is not cooperating with the farce.

Cajun, as somebody who lives in the south, where the last 15 years have been the hottest on record, each year consecutively, I'd think you'd get it, what with seeing it firsthand and all.

To say the climate isn't undergoing some kind of change is ridiculous. It obviously is. Now, what the cause of this is, I can't claim to know. But watching meteorological records since we started keeping them, there's a definite trend toward hotter warm seasons, more extreme storms in the cold seasons, and drought in new places. That's irrefutable. The question now is not whether it's happening, but what we should do about it, because it's already affecting our society and economy.

Also, CFC interaction with ozone is lab-tested, and infrared spectrography of the atmospheric ozone layer, as well as the increase in melanoma rates during the late 80s and 90s, which rose and fell with the depletion and return of the ozone layer, have very clear implications about what was causing the problem. New laws and better engineering fixed the problem, and now we don't have ozone worries anymore. I should say the same is possible for the frankly larger-scale problem of global climate change.

(Finally, the term "global warming" was accidentally coined by a climatologist, Wallace Broecker, in his 1975 book on the topic. Pundits have historically used the term far more than scientists, who have historically referred to it as "global climate change")

silvertonMay 10, 2013, 5:08 pm · #8

over the shelf R134 has the compressor oil in it. When my old S12 was in the accident and I had to replace the condenser, I bought the retrofit "kit" from an auto parts store, which is essentially new valves for the low and high pressure ports.

The only thing is that the system needs to be completely void of R12, since my car was down for 3 months, it had plenty of time to air out.

SchizophrenicMCMay 10, 2013, 5:49 pm · #9

silverton on 05:08:20 PM / 10-May-13

The only thing is that the system needs to be completely void of R12, since my car was down for 3 months, it had plenty of time to air out.

Not necessarily. While the refrigerants aren't compatible, and neither are their respective compressor oils, there is a dual-compatible oil that comes premixed in some cans of R134A, and almost always in retrofit kit cans. It's recommended, if you use that oil, that you evacuate the system completely with a vacuum device, but it's not strictly necessary, because the oil won't be displaced by the R12.